Former intelligence official calls for more transparency on secret US surveillance programs

WASHINGTON – The former director of the CIA and National Security Agency says the government should release more information about its secretive surveillance programs to reassure Americans that their privacy rights are being protected.

Michael Hayden said Sunday he believes the public will be more comfortable with the programs that gather phone and Internet records from around the world if people know more about how they are carried out and why.

Hayden also defended a secret court that approves government requests to gather the records. Critics say the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has served as a rubber stamp to the requests instead of challenging government attorneys on whether the information is needed or gathered properly.

Hayden is now a security consultant and university professor. His comment came on CBS' "Face The Nation."